Secondary School Updates (24 June 2022)

Weekly update from Head of Secondary

Dear Parents,

With the year 2021-22 now ended the key themes for me are celebration, gratitude, and farewell. 

Generally, we are celebrating an end to perhaps one of the most challenging school years in memory. A total of 27 weeks were spent in online learning due to government enforced closures, which constitutes 73% of the teaching year. Students experienced over 800 online lessons delivered by our dedicated teachers during that time. To have thrived through this experience and now be back in almost completely normal operation, are causes for celebration. 

This leads to the theme of gratitude. I am so thankful for the spirit of the students in our care for their positive and steadfast attitudes and approaches to learning. Teachers and support staff at BIS have shown extraordinary dedication this year, going above and beyond to deliver high quality learning. Parents too have played an invaluable role, many of whom were not only in lockdown conditions themselves but also supervising and caring for students at the same time. We couldn’t be more grateful for all the work from our community this school year. 

Finally, a heartfelt farewell to the students and teachers who are leaving our community. We wish you all the best for the next adventure and hope you look fondly upon your time at BIS. Please stay in touch. 

Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a fun and restful summer holiday. We look forward to seeing you back on campus on August 17th, 2022. 

Chris Newman 

Head of Secondary

Key Dates

• Wednesday 17 August: First day of new school year 

Learning Showcase

International Children's Day | MFL | Korean | Geography

International Children’s Day 2022 

June 20th: the Global Language School charity, based in Truc Bach, hosted an International Children’s Day celebration in conjunction with the Pan Pacific Hotel for disadvantaged local children who attend GLC for free English lessons and for local children suffering from cancer. Pin the tail on the donkey, the tiger chasing the rabbit and pass the parcel were highlights. Many thanks to Thuy from GLC for all her hard work and Colleen Usher from BVIS Hanoi, plus those students and staff from BIS Hanoi who helped out on the day. Let’s hope it becomes an annual event. 

MFL 

As mentioned last week in the newsletter, our Key Stage 3 MFL students have been working incredibly hard on their Independent Inquiry Project. They have conducted thorough research around their topics and have now finished their final pieces.  

In order to ensure that their research was reliable and accurate, the students had to submit a Reference List following the Harvard conventions. This will really support our students as they progress throughout the school. Both the MFL teachers and Mrs Hall were very impressed with the high level of referencing from all year groups!  

We also ran a competition to design the cover of the magazine – here you can see a selection of the beautiful and creative entries that were submitted!  

The final MFL Magazine will be published ready for Languages Week in September next year, where students will be able to see their final pieces and learn all about a wide range of topics focusing on the French and Spanish speaking worlds. Here is a little sneak peak of what to expect from the magazine…  

Ms Georgina Dorr 

Head of MFL 

Korean

Year 12 Korean Students did an inquiry-based project about the book called Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They read a research paper about the work and showed their understanding by using visible thinking strategies. Students worked with their partners and did a close reading together. They found out that it is so important to share their opinions and thoughts to summarize what they have read. By looking at the visible thinking chart, students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the work and the author itself. This chart will guide them when they needed to choose the work for the Internal Assessment.  

Geography  

Over the past 3-4 weeks, our Year 8 and 9 Geographers have been working on their respective end of term projects on Biomes and Development in Svalbard, Norway. Both year groups have worked collaboratively to research and explore the opportunities and challenges that extreme environment can bring to people and wildlife.  

Year 8 were given the opportunity to develop their own Geographical enquiry questions regarding a biome of their choice. Each group focused on different biomes of the world to explore. Some of the excellent questions that were asked included “How will climate change affect my chosen biome in the future? and How are humans affecting the wildlife of my chosen biome”. Additionally, some groups decided to really narrow their focus and area of research by investigating the ecosystems of deep ocean trenches! Overall, we have been extremely impressed with the level of engagement and quality of their final presentations which is a reflection of how much progress they have made this Year. Well done Year 8!  
 

Year 9 have investigating the opportunities and challenges faced in Svalbard, Norway and have working collaboratively to investigate how climate change will impact this fragile ecosystem and place. Impressively, they have used their knowledge of computer aided design (CAD) learnt in STEAM to create model homes designed to adapt and thrive in polar conditions. The final entries demonstrated excellent levels of background research to which they have applied into their final designs. An impressive way to end Key Stage 3 Geography. Well done Year 9!